Lauterbrunnen is in the Bernese Overland, or Berner Oberland, in Switzerland. It is a quintessential Swiss Alpine town surrounded by mountains such as Mönch, Jungfrau and Eiger. It lies in a beautiful, amazing valley with steep cliffs on either side.

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J.R.R. Tolkien came to Switzerland in 1911 when he was 19. a hike from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen is throught to have inspired his Rivendell, the home of the elves in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, "riven" meaning divided and "dell" meaning valley.

His Misty Mountains, under which the dwarves built cities and mines, is believed to have been inspired by the mountains above Interlaken, Mönch, Jungfrau and Eiger.

Lauterbrunnen is famous for the Staubbachfall, or Staubbach Fall, Switzerland's highest freefalling waterfall at just under 300m. Just outside Lauterbrunnen is an even more impressive cascade of no less than 10 waterfalls descending from the glaciers on Jungfrau, Mönch and Eiger. They pass through a mountain, and you can view them by ascending a set of staircases or taking a funicular inside the rock.

Also just outside Lauterbrunnen is the valley station for a set of gondolas which ascend Schilthorn, a mountain just under 3000m, or 9800 feet, high. Schilthorn was the setting for the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", starring George Lazenby and Telly Savalas. In the film it was called Piz Gloria and the name has stuck.

On a clear day the peak of Schilthorn offers panoramic views over the Alps into France. The exterior as well as the iconic revolving restaurant are James Bond themed and well worth a visit even if the weather is not clear.

Half way down Schilthorn is Birg. When the peak is in the cloud, Birg is often clearer. It also has its Thrill Walk, a metal lattice staircase bolted to the vertical cliff face.

Photo of Rivendell by J.R.R. Tolkien (public domain)

Chapters

00:00 Intro
00:30 Lauterbrunnen town
02:34 Tolkien
03:46 Trümmelbach Falls
07:41 Gondala to Schilthorn
08:09 Thrill Walk
09:34 Schilthorn peak/Piz Gloria

#lauterbrunnen #schilthorn #switzerland

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Equipment used:

Sony Alpha 7iii wth 28-70mm Sony lens
DJI Ronin S gimball
Rode StereoMic Pro
Rode VideoMic NTG
iPhone XR
GoPro Hero 9